Analysis
April 30, 2023
Written by Michael Cowden
Feelings are running high with prices inflecting downward from historically high levels. I’ve had producers say that we’ve written too negatively about higher prices. I’ve also had consumers say that we’ve written too positively about higher prices.
For the record: SMU doesn’t have a position on prices. We aim to report what’s happening in the market – and to be as balanced to all sides as we can be.
The US Department of Commerce has preliminarily determined that critical circumstances exist in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of large-diameter graphite electrodes (LDGEs) from China.
SMU’s Steel Demand Index rose to 69.5 in mid-September, its highest reading in more than five years.
SMU’s Mill Order Index (MOI) accelerated in August for a fourth consecutive month, reaching its strongest reading in nearly five years.
Worthington Enterprises reported higher fiscal first-quarter sales and earnings while citing rapidly growing data center demand and continued tightness in the steel market.
Sheet and plate prices continued to tick mostly higher this week amid a supply squeeze that shows no signs of loosening its grip on the US market.